Ieq Capital LLC Buys Shares of 18,028 First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 18,028 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $425,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in First Busey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Huntington National Bank bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the third quarter worth $38,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of First Busey in the third quarter valued at $171,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 3rd quarter valued at $224,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 3rd quarter valued at $330,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BUSE remained flat at $23.99 on Friday. 1,673,777 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 394,258. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.87. First Busey Co. has a 1-year low of $21.59 and a 1-year high of $28.97. The stock's 50 day moving average is $23.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.22.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. Equities analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from First Busey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. First Busey's payout ratio is presently 50.76%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,838 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.75 per share, with a total value of $43,652.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 437,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BUSE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $33.00 price target (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Busey presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.00.

First Busey Company Profile

First Busey Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Busey Bank that engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking products and services to individual, corporate, institutional, and governmental customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and FirsTech.